Ostriches exist in India for over 25000 years, reveals DNA study

New Delhi : Ostriches, the flightless birds, are in India for nothing less than 25,000 years, a new study has revealed. Though the bird is a native to Africa, researchers and geologists have been finding traces of their existence in India.

The signs of their existence can be majorly found in parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. According to a latest research done at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), the egg shells found in India are genetically similar to the African ostrich.

"We have successfully analysed the ostrich egg shells in our ‘ancient DNA’ facility and established that the egg shells (found in India) are genetically similar to the African ostrich," PTI quotes CCMB's senior principal scientist Kumarasamy Thangaraj.

“The carbon dating (of the ostrich egg shells) to determine the age shows that they are at least 25,000 years old,” Thangaraj said.

The major findings of the research, conducted jointly by CCMB and IIT Roorkee, were published in the March 9, 2017 issue of science journal PLOS ONE.